2012考研英語：沖刺階段如何從閱讀中積累語言材料

考研英語來源：中國考研網 2011-11-03　

要提高寫作能力，掌握足夠的單詞、詞組和句型是至關重要的。有的考生認為通過機械記憶《大綱》上的詞匯表，認為只要記熟上面的五千多個詞匯就萬事大吉，就能下筆成章了。這種方法是不可取的。

語言的學習離不開語境。在某種語境中學習語言，不僅有助于學習者記憶語料，更重要的是能夠幫助他們了解和掌握詞匯的各種變化、慣用法、相互關聯、各種修辭和特殊用法等。閱讀則是學習者熟悉英語語境的主要方法之一。

學習者可以從眾多的原汁原味的閱讀材料吸取語言素材，再通過記憶、運用（口語、寫作等）內化成自己的語言。比如，在沖刺階段，考生通過做模擬題的方式，從一篇文章及語境中學到許多有用的詞組和表達法。（例文選自文都教育《2012考研英語絕對考場最后五套題》）

①Invention and innovation have been quintessentially American puisuits from the earliest days of the republic. BenjaminFranklin was a world-famous scientist and inventor. Cyrus McCormick and his harvester, Samuel F.B. Morse and the telegraph, Alexander Graham Bell and the telephone—the 19th century produced a string of inventors and their world-changing creations. And then there was the greatest of them all, Thomas Alva Edisonl. He came up with the crucial devices that would give birth to three enduring American industries: electrical power, recorded music and motion pictures.

②Much of the world we live in today is a legacy of Edison and of his devotion to science and innovation. Edison taught us to invent, and for decades we were the best in the world. But today, more than 160 years after Edison’s birth, America is losing its scientific edge. A landmark report released in May by the National Science Board lays out the numbers: while U.S. investment in R&D as a share of total GDP has remained relatively constant since the mid-1980s at 2.7%, the federal share of R&D has been consistently declining—even as Asian nations like Japan and South Korea have rapidly increased that ratio. At the same time, American students seem to be losing interest in science. Only about one-third of U.S. bachelor’s degrees are in science or engineering now, compared with 63% in Japan and 53% in China.

③It’s ironic that nowhere is America’s position in science and technology more threatened than in the industry that Edison essentially invented: energy. Clean power could be to the 21st century what aeronautics and the computer were to the 20th, but the U.S. is already falling behind. Meanwhile, Congress remains largely paralyzed. Though in May the House of Representatives was finally able to pass the $86 billion America Competes Reauthorization Act, which would double the budgets of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Energy Department’s Office of Science, the bill’s fate is cloudy in the deadlocked Senate. “At this rate…we’ll be buying most of our wind generators and photovoltaic panels from other countries,” former NSF head Arden L. Bement said at a congressional hearing recently. “That’s what keeps me awake something at night.”

④Some erosion of the U.S.’s scientific dominance is inevitable in a globalized world and might not even be a bad thing. Tomorrow’s innovators could arise in Shanghai or Seoul or Bangalore. And Edison would counsel against panic—as he put it once, “Whatever setbacks America has encountered, it has always emerged as a stronger and more prosperous nation.” But the U.S. will inevitably decline unless we invest in the education and research necessary to maintain the American edge. The next generation of Edisons could be waiting. But unless we move quickly, they won’t have the tools they need to thrive.

這篇文章選自2010年7月5日Time(美國時代周刊)，原汁原味，同時更是考研英語篇章語料出題來源之一。這樣選材的文章，都是考生平時吸收語言材料的理想選擇。

比如，句式方面我們可以學習到：

It’s ironic that…具有諷刺意義的事情是…… 這個句式用在寫作中可以表達出另一種相反的例證，是很好的提出相反意義論據的句型。

Whatever setbacks America has encountered, it has always emerged as a stronger and more prosperous nation.（不論美國遇到什么挫折困難，克服之后他都會成為一個更加堅強和繁榮的國度。）這個句型多么簡潔好用！可用在表達“無論……,結果都會是更……。”意義的時侯。我們在寫考研作文的時候，常要用到這樣積極表達正面意義的句型。

還有最后兩句話中都出現了“unless”這個連接詞。在考研英語作文部分，如果你能正確和恰當的使用這個連接詞，來構成一個復合句。你的作文結構將顯得很“高級”和英語邏輯感很地道。But the U.S. will inevitably decline unless we invest in the education and research necessary to maintain the American edge. . But unless we move quickly, they won’t have the tools they need to thrive.

除此之外，文章中其他黑體字部分都是很好很地道的詞組和搭配等，不僅值得記憶，考生更應當通過造句等方式學著使用。

為了學習寫作而進行的閱讀，在選材是要遵循兩個原則：其一，語言是比較簡練的，易于模仿和記憶。其二，內容與人們的日常工作、學習、生活有較密切的聯系，這樣易于把相關的表達方式應用到考試的寫作當中去。

學習好的句子僅靠閱讀是不夠的，學習者還應養成摘錄的習慣，把好的句型摘錄在筆記上更易于記憶和內化。